As this is being written,
Hurricane Wilma has just ravaged Florida after
doing a number on Mexico and
Cuba.
At the same time, scientists are warning of massive die-offs of Antarctic fish
and the melting of the polar ice cap. What do these seeming unconnected events
have in common? Short answer is hot water. The long answer is rising sea
temperatures caused by global warming.

While Wilma travels
northward, yet another named storm is being tracked, Tropical Depression
Alpha. And the hurricane season is not over until November. What has fueled these
hurricanes, increasing both their frequency and their intensity, is the warming
of ocean waters. The ocean waters, in turn, have been warmed by heat trapped in
the atmosphere by human-produced greenhouse gases.

It takes lots of energy to heat
the oceans. Stored energy, in the form of higher water temperatures, is the
ultimate cause of hurricanes. While it took the oceans longer to heat up than
the atmosphere, they will also take longer to cool off. Once a giant boulder
starts rolling down a hill it does not stop until it gets to the bottom. The
same is true of ocean warming and hurricanes. The most recent hurricane season
is not a fluke—it is the future.

The increase in frequency and
intensity of hurricanes is just one consequence of rising ocean temperatures.
Another is the rise in the waters around the Antarctic and in the Arctic Ocean. In the Antarctic the waters are warming at
a rate far faster than predicted by models of global warming. The water has
already warmed more than one degree Centigrade, and 20% of the sea ice cover
around the continent has disappeared since 1979.

Two consequences follow from the
warming of the waters around the Antarctic. First, many marine species that
depend on stable, cold temperatures will die off, followed immediately
afterwards by the penguins and seals that feed on them. Second, since less ice
will form on the water during the winter, the water will not be insulated and
will warm at an even faster rate. This positive feedback loop will increase the
rate at which the oceans warm, melting even more ice and creating even more
hurricanes. (See David Adam, “Ocean Warming Threatens Antarctic Wildlife,” Guardian [London], Oct. 19, 2005.)

Meanwhile up at the North Pole,
this past summer the ice cap shrank to its smallest area ever recorded. At the
present rate, the North Pole will be free of ice during the summers within 20
to 30 years.

The shrinking of the polar ice cap
has started a capitalist feeding frenzy. Shipping through Arctic routes would
save thousands of miles over current routes. There are three potential routes:
the Northwest Passage from the eastern U.S.
to Asia, the ArcticBridge from Norway
and Russia to Canada, and the Northern Sea Route, from Europe to East
Asia across the north of Russia.
The melting of the cap also opens up new fisheries to commercial exploitation. But
the real prize is under the sea—oil and natural gas. (See Clifford
Krauss, Steven Lee Myers, Andrew C. Revkin, and Simon Romero, “As Polar Ice
Turns to Water, Dreams of Treasure Abound,” New York Times, Oct. 10, 2005.)

As most oil-producing countries
fast approach Hubbert’s Peak, the point when 50% of their total oil supply is
used up, the last remaining extensive reserves are found in the Arctic. This oil and natural gas is difficult to drill
for and transport (and hence expensive), but with shrinking supplies and
growing demand, it is a treasure no capitalist could resist. The problem of
course is that continued reliance on the internal combustion engine, the main
use of oil in the world, the more greenhouse gases we produce and the hotter
the planet gets.

Continued reliance on the auto
and its internal combustion engine is only part of the problem. The melting of
the polar ice cap creates another positive feedback loop. Without the cap to
insulate the water and reflect sunlight, the water will get warmer faster,
accelerating global warming. A second positive feedback loop may also come into
play—methane frozen in the permafrost could be released as the permafrost melts.
Currently, permafrost is melting like never before across northern Russia, Canada,
and Alaska. (See
Andrew C. Revkin, “No Escape: Thaw Gains Momentum,” New York Times, Oct.
25, 2005.)

Capitalism has gotten us all in
hot water. The expression “in hot water” comes from a so-called test for
witches. Women accused of witchcraft were placed in hot, boiling water. Those
that did not die, confessed. Now capitalism is boiling
the human race alive in hot water. We have nothing to confess, but we have much
to do, starting with changing the crazy economic system of capitalism that has
placed us in this hot water in the first place.